The magazine selected German Chancellor Angela Merkel, praising how she handled Europe’s currency and refugee crises.

Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner, was among the finalists. He wrote on Twitter that he was the “big favourite” and Merkel was “ruining Germany.”

I told you @TIME Magazine would never pick me as person of the year despite being the big favourite They picked person who is ruining Germany
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 9, 2015

On the campaign trail, Trump often criticises Merkel for opening up her country to Syrian refugees despite the terror threat emanating from of the Islamic State group, which is based in Syria and Iraq. Trump has repeatedly warned that the US’ Syrian refugees could be a great “Trojan horse” for terrorists to launch a military attack.

TIME’s editor, Nancy Gibbs, announced the magazine’s Person of the Year award on the “Today” show. Trump finished in third place, she said, behind the Islamic State’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

“We’ve never named a presidential candidate as person of the year,” Gibbs said of Trump.